City High Dance Team landed on top at last weekend’s competition at Carver Hawkeye Arena. Competing against 43 other varsity dances, their Jazz piece earned them a first place spot and a grand champions trophy, at their first group event of the 2015 season.

“It felt really good, It was great because we work really hard to get this far in competitions,” returning member, Hailey Fay ‘17 said, “We have never been grand champions at this competition before.”

Each dance was judged upon their technique, ability to work together as a team, emotion they give off, and the way they presented the dance.

“We knew that it would be a success, but I don’t think we knew that it would win this big,” Ella Lowry ‘18 said.

Nerves ran high among the members of the City High Dance Team when they had to compete with a piece they’d only finished a week before. The talent of the group and the powerful message of their jazz, “They Were Wrong,” took over, and the girls landed at the top, winning first overall with that very performance.

“We finished that dance a week before we competed so I was not expecting to do that well,” said team captain, Elke Windschitl ‘16, “but after we came off the floor I knew we had done really well.”

This piece done by the team was distinctive from their other dances they performed. The song choice for this dance was chosen on purpose.

“It was spoken word poem,” said Cain ’17,  “talking with music in the back.”

 Essentially, spoken word poetry is used for storytelling and expressing emotion. Since this dance covered the topic of bullying, the music choice, “They Were Wrong” was a perfect fit. This dance was choreographed by Dance Team’s Head Coach, Barbie Kopp.

“I think it’s a really good message that my coach chose. When we were doing it, some of the judges were crying,” Amelia Cain ‘17 said, “It really gets to other people. It’s emotional, it hits people because so many people have been bullied.”

Having been the first group event of their 2015 season, the girls were thrilled to win.

“I’ve never seen the team as happy as they were after winning,” Lowry ‘18 said.

The City High Dance Team has three more competitions as a team before moving on to bigger events such as their State Team competition (held in Des Moines) and the National Dance Team Championship in Orlando, Florida.

“It gives us a lot of motivation going into other competitions. Having a win under our belt helps,” Cain ‘17 said.

Linked below is the spoken word poetry used in City High Dance Team’s jazz performance.